City authorities on alert as rain floods Capital

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram is on the alert after massive waterlogging virtually paralysed the city on Tuesday.

With Delhi receiving heavy rain that left many areas in the Capital inundated, authorities in Gurugram remained on high alert throughout Saturday and initiated measures in advance to prevent a repeat of Tuesday’s situation, when a record downpour left the city heavily waterlogged.

Commuters on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway on a wet Saturday. According to IMD officials, the city recorded 1mm of rainfall between 6 and 7.30am on Saturday (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

According to officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city recorded 1mm of rainfall on Saturday between 6 and 7.30am. However, with wet days predicted in the city at least till Wednesday, the authorities are expected to be on their toes for the next four days as they prepare to deal with possible waterlogging and traffic snarls.

“Sunday will be a mostly cloudy day, with a few short spells of rain. Similar weather is expected till Wednesday, after which we expect the rains to diminish. The minimum temperature is likely to remain around 25°C the whole week,” an IMD spokesperson said.

On Saturday morning, with reports of the national Capital receiving heavy rains, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) issued directions to 100 officials, 25 in each zone, to deal with waterlogging, and placed a total of 70 machines (motor pumps, super suction pumps and tractors) across the city in anticipation of rain.

“A drill has been formulated to deal with rain. Twenty-five officials were deployed in each zone to deal with the possibility of waterlogging and they were equipped with motor pumps, super suction pumps and tractors to take necessary action,” Yashpal Yadav, commissioner, MCG, said. He said the drill will be followed every time it rains.